No. 1 Clemson, Virginia in rematch of 2019 ACC championship game

Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall is a believer that past lessons are essential to future success. He and the Cavaliers get to see if that's true when they play No. 1 Clemson.

Virginia (1-0, 1-0 ACC) was taken apart, 62-17, by the Tigers last December in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. Since then Mendenhall has seen his players grow and now comes the measuring stick.

The ACC title game "accelerated our program," Mendenhall said. "It exposed deficiencies. We learned so many things about that setting, that stage, that opponent. We're anxious to learn and apply and improve from what we showed a year ago."

That could be difficult against the Tigers (2-0, 1-0), who have appeared sharp and relentless in starting with easy wins over Wake Forest and The Citadel.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns against the Cavaliers last year, looks every bit the Heisman Trophy favorite with his play so far. He's connected on 81 percent of his passes for 519 yards and four touchdowns - all while resting much of the first games after Clemson opened a big lead.

But Virginia showed it might have something for Clemson's pass attack in its opener, picking off Duke five times in a 38-20 win last week.

Cornerback Nick Grant, who had one of the five interceptions, said the title-game loss was the first time many of the Cavaliers felt the embarrassment of a truly lopsided defeat on a national stage. They understand that to succeed in the ACC, "all roads lead to Clemson."

"It's just another step that we have to take to really attain one of our goals and be the best team that we want to be."'

Some other things to watch when No. 1 Clemson plays Virginia:

ADVANCE SCOUT

Clemson may have some inside information in prepping for Virginia this week. Ex-Tigers quarterback Chase Brice is the current Duke starter and watched the Cavaliers up close last Saturday. Brice threw four interceptions in the Duke loss. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence said he texted with his friend Brice some about the game already and may talk more the rest of the week.

FAST START

Virginia came out fast last week - really fast. The Cavaliers ran a play about every 25 seconds, according to Mendenhall, something that was planned against Duke. "We thought we had conditioned well. We thought it might be to our advantage," Mendenhall said.

CORNERBACK COUNT

Clemson will have its starting cornerbacks on the field together for the first time all season. Derion Kendrick has missed one game this season and Mario Goodrich two due to the coronavirus protocol. Both are expected to open against Virginia on Saturday night.

NIGHT-TIME GAME

This will be Clemson's first home night game of the season - and during reduced capacity restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Tigers have been a night-time TV attraction the past few seasons. This will be the first with just 19,000 people allowed in 81,500 seat Memorial Stadium. Tigers coach Dabo Swinney is happy for any game in this altered season. "Whatever juice our fans can bring, I know it will be in the stands," he said.

NO. 1 CLEMSON VS VIRGINIA

Virginia (1-0, 1-0 ACC) at No. 1 Clemson (2-0, 1-0), Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (ACC Network).

Line: Clemson by 28.

Series record: Clemson leads 39-8-1.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

Clemson hopes to continue its status as ACC front-runner as it looks for a sixth-straight league title and sixth consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff. For Virginia, it's a chance for a measure of revenge after the Tigers' 62-17 win over the Cavaliers in the ACC title game last December where Clemson put a championship game record for points and 617 yards of offense.

KEY MATCHUP

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence vs. Virginia's secondary: Lawrence threw for four touchdowns when these teams met last December. Three of them went to Tee Higgins, now with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cavaliers' secondary is led by safety Brenton Nelson, who missed the title game a season ago and had two interceptions in his team's opening victory over Duke last week.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Virginia: WR Lavel Davis Jr. had four catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns in his college debut. He's the first Cavalier to finish with 100-plus yards in his first college game.

Clemson: RB Travis Etienne will look to get going as he tries for a third straight ACC player of the year award. Etienne, like most Clemson starters, has not played a ton as the Tigers have beaten their two opponents by a combined score of 86-13. Etienne has 170 yards and a touchdown rushing so far.

FACTS & FIGURES

Clemson won the first 29 games of the series before Virginia got more competitive. It's been 10-8-1 in Clemson's favor since Virginia broke the streak with a win in 1990. ... Virginia is facing a No. 1 team for the first time in 21 years since losing to top-ranked Florida State 35-10 in 1999. ... Clemson has won 23 straight games at home and its 42-1 record at Memorial Stadium since 2014 leads the nation. ... Virginia forced seven turnovers in beating Duke last week. That's the most by the Cavaliers since a win over Richmond in 2014. ... Clemson has gotten at least four sacks a game over its last four contests. It's the longest streak since the 1990-91 Tigers did it in six straight games. ... Virginia has won twice in 17 series games when Clemson has been ranked. The only time at Clemson came in 2001 with a 26-24 win over the 19th-ranked Tigers.